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United States Patent |
5,082,322
|
Cekander
,   et al.
|
January 21, 1992
|
Visor rod mount
Abstract
A snap-in visor rod mount inserted within the supporting structure of a
vehicle roof includes a molded-on torque fitting which integrally includes
a spring clip for lockably mounting the visor rod end to the vehicle. In a
preferred embodiment of the invention, the vehicle includes a conically
shaped socket having a keyway formed therein terminating in a horizontally
extending flange and the spring clip includes an end with and inclined
edge which lockably engages the flange of the socket while the torque
fitting includes a key which aligns with and prevents rotation of the
torque fitting within the socket allowing the visor rod to rotate with
respect to the torque fitting. Also in a preferred embodiment a bezel is
provided which includes an upwardly extending leg extending behind the
spring leg to lock the spring leg into position once installed.
Inventors:
|
Cekander; John W. (Wyoming, MI);
Redder; Doug J. (Zeeland, MI);
Waldron; Chris R. (Wyoming, MI)
|
Assignee:
|
Prince Corporation (Holland, MI)
|
Appl. No.:
|
662237 |
Filed:
|
February 28, 1991 |
Current U.S. Class: |
296/97.9; 296/97.12 |
Intern'l Class: |
B60J 003/02 |
Field of Search: |
296/97.9,97.12,97.13
248/289.1
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
2110120 | Jun., 1934 | Ball | 296/97.
|
2357974 | Jul., 1939 | Roberts | 248/289.
|
4352518 | Oct., 1982 | Prince et al. | 296/97.
|
4377020 | Mar., 1983 | Vigo | 16/329.
|
4553797 | Nov., 1985 | Marcus | 339/22.
|
4569552 | Feb., 1986 | Marks | 296/97.
|
4634196 | Jan., 1987 | Nestell | 339/5.
|
4729590 | Mar., 1988 | Adams | 296/97.
|
4893866 | Jan., 1990 | Dowd et al. | 296/214.
|
4989911 | Feb., 1991 | Van Order | 296/97.
|
Foreign Patent Documents |
2341940 | Nov., 1977 | DE.
| |
Primary Examiner: Cherry; Johnny D.
Assistant Examiner: Pape; Joseph D.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Price, Heneveld, Cooper, DeWitt & Litton
Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows.
1. A visor assembly for a vehicle having a windshield and a side window,
said visor assembly comprising:
a visor having a visor body and a pivot rod mounted therein and having an
end extending from said body for attachment of said visor to a vehicle
such that said visor can be moved between a raised stored position and a
lowered use position and moved adjacent the windshield and a side window;
and
a visor mounting assembly including a torque fitting comprising a molded
polymeric member integrally molded to said extending end of said visor rod
and further including a spring clip extending outwardly and downwardly
from a side of said torque fitting from an upper portion of said torque
fitting, said spring clip including locking means for lockably engaging a
vehicle support member for mounting said visor to a vehicle wherein at
least a portion of said torque fitting surrounds an end of said spring
clip for securing said spring clip to said visor mounting assembly.
2. A visor assembly for a vehicle having a windshield and a side window,
said visor assembly comprising:
a visor having a visor body and a pivot rod mounted therein and having an
end extending from said body for attachment of said visor to a vehicle
such that said visor can be moved between a raised stored position and a
lowered use position and moved adjacent the windshield and a side window;
and
a visor mounting assembly including a torque fitting comprising a molded
polymeric member integrally molded to said extending end of said visor rod
and further including a spring clip extending outwardly and downwardly
from a side of said torque fitting from an upper portion of said torque
fitting, said spring clip including locking means for lockably engaging a
vehicle support member for mounting said visor to a vehicle, wherein said
spring clip is integrally molded within said torque fitting.
3. The visor assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein said spring clip is
made of a spring steel material.
4. The visor assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein said spring clip
includes an inner leg embedded in said torque fitting and an outer leg
extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom in spaced relationship to the
exterior of said torque fitting and wherein said locking means is formed
on said outer leg.
5. The visor assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein said inner leg is an
elongated leg extending in generally parallel relationship to said pivot
rod.
6. The visor assembly as defined in claim 5 and further including a bezel
extending over said visor rod and means for securing said bezel to a lower
end of said torque fitting.
7. The visor assembly as defined in claim 6 wherein said bezel includes an
upwardly extending leg which extends behind said spring clip for
maintaining said spring clip in an extended position once installed.
8. The visor assembly as defined in claim 7 wherein said bezel is generally
washer-shaped and wherein said means for securing said bezel to said
torque fitting includes an annular recess formed at a lower portion of
said torque fitting for receiving a circular inner edge of said bezel.
9. The visor assembly as defined in claim 8 wherein said locking means of
said spring clip comprises at least one flange extending outwardly from
said outer leg, said flange including an edge inclined at an angle to said
outer leg for engaging the vehicle support member.
10. The visor assembly as defined in claim 9 wherein said outer leg
includes a flange at opposite edges of said outer leg with each of said
flanges including an inclined edge.
11. The visor assembly as defined in claim 10 wherein said outer leg of
said spring clip includes a downwardly extending tab which extends
adjacent said bezel.
12. The visor assembly as defined in claim 11 in combination with a vehicle
header for mounting to the roof of a vehicle and including a mounting
socket formed in said vehicle header and including a conically tapered
sidewall for receiving said torque fitting.
13. The visor assembly as defined in claim 12 wherein said torque fitting
includes a key member extending longitudinally along the side of said
fitting and wherein said socket includes a slot formed therein for
receiving said key member of said torque fitting.
14. The visor assembly as defined in claim 13 wherein said sidewall of said
socket is tapered to conform to the conically tapered torque fitting and
terminates in a flange which is engaged by said inclined edge of said
flange of said spring clip.
15. A visor mounting assembly comprising:
a vehicle mounting member for securing to the roof of a vehicle and
including a mounting socket formed in said vehicle mounting member, said
socket including a sidewall terminating in a mounting flange;
a visor having a pivot rod mounted therein with an end extending for
attachment of said visor to a vehicle for movement of said visor; and
a polymeric torque fitting integrally molded to said end of said pivot rod
and holding a spring clip extending outwardly and downwardly from a side
of said torque fitting from an upper portion of said torque fitting, said
spring clip having an end defined by a pair of spaced flanges each
terminating at an edge inclined to said flange of said socket, said edge
lockably engaging said flange of said socket for mounting said visor to
said vehicle mounting member.
16. A visor mounting assembly comprising:
a vehicle mounting member for securing to the roof of a vehicle and
including a mounting socket formed in said vehicle mounting member, said
socket including a sidewall terminating in a mounting flange;
a visor having a pivot rod mounted therein with an end extending for
attachment of said visor to a vehicle for movement of said visor; and
a polymeric torque fitting integrally molded to said end of said pivot rod
and including a spring clip extending outwardly and downwardly from a side
of said torque fitting from an upper portion of said torque fitting, said
spring clip having an end lockably engaging said flange of said socket for
mounting said visor to said vehicle mounting member wherein said spring
clip is integrally molded within said torque fitting.
17. The visor assembly as defined in claim 16 wherein said spring clip is
made of a spring steel material.
18. The visor assembly as defined in claim 17 wherein said spring clip
includes an inner leg embedded in said torque fitting and an outer leg
extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom in spaced relationship to the
exterior of said torque fitting and wherein said locking means is formed
on said outer leg.
19. The visor assembly as defined in claim 18 wherein said inner leg is an
elongated leg extending in generally parallel relationship to said pivot
rod.
20. The visor assembly as defined in claim 19 and further including a bezel
including an upwardly extending leg which extends behind said spring clip
for maintaining said spring clip in an extended position once installed.
21. The visor assembly as defined in claim 20 wherein said bezel is
generally washer-shaped and wherein said torque fitting includes an
annular recess formed at a lower portion of said torque fitting for
receiving a circular inner edge of said bezel.
22. A visor assembly comprising:
a visor having a visor body with a pivot rod mounted therein and having an
end extending from said body for attachment of said visor to a vehicle;
a torque fitting comprising a polymeric member integrally molded to said
extending end of said visor rod; and
a spring clip with an inner leg embedded within said torque fitting and
including an outer leg extending outwardly and downwardly from a side of
said torque fitting with an end for engaging a vehicle support member for
mounting said visor to a vehicle.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to a mounting assembly and particularly one
used for attaching the end of a visor pivot rod to the roof of a vehicle.
There exist a variety of structure in which vehicle visors are attached to
the roof structure of a vehicle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,569,552 and 4,989,911
disclose spring clip assemblies used in connection with a visor rod
mounting bracket with the combination then snap-fitting within the vehicle
sheet metal roof structure. A variety of molded-on torque fittings which
are held in place with a spring arm mounted to the vehicle headliner or a
special mounting bracket also have been employed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,553,797
and 4,634,196 are representative of such construction. Other attachment
systems have employed mounting screws which extend through a conventional
mounting bracket and then directly into a sheet metal roof header of the
vehicle. Other totally polymeric snap-in systems have also been proposed,
however the polymeric material tends to creep under the weight and
movement of the visor and eventually with the use of the visor, they tend
to loosen. Thus although snap-in construction is preferable since it
provides easy manufacturing during assembly line construction of a
vehicle, it has been somewhat difficult to obtain relatively inexpensive
structure which provides secure fastening to the vehicle roof with a
minimum of complicated parts.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The visor mounting system of the present invention, provides the ease of
assembly of a snap-in visor assembly which additionally provides secure
stable operation of a visor over a long period of time through the use of
a metallic spring clip which is integrally molded within a polymeric
torque fitting molded to the end of a visor rod to provide snap-lock
insertion and installation of a visor rod and into a socket formed in the
vehicle sheet metal roof structure.
Apparatus embodying this invention includes a visor pivot rod having a
molded-on torque fitting at one end for insertion into the vehicle roof to
allow the visor rod to pivot within the torque fitting which is keyed
against rotation with respect to the vehicle roof. A spring clip extends
laterally outwardly from the molded-on torque fitting and is integrally
secured to the torque fitting. The clip includes an end configured to grip
an edge of the vehicle sheet metal roof structure for locking the assembly
in place once inserted into a socket formed in the roof structure. This
construction provides a relatively inexpensive and efficient construction
for a visor rod mount which improves ease of assembly and reduces the cost
of the construction dramatically over multiple component snap-in visor
assemblies.
These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention,
will become apparent upon reading the following description thereof
together with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded fragmentary and partly broken-away view of a vehicle
roof and visor mounting assembly embodying the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of the
structure shown in FIG. 1 with a visor mounted thereto and shown assembled
to the vehicle; and
FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged side elevational view of the spring clip shown
in FIGS. 1 and 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a vehicle roof 10 including a
diecast header 12 which is mounted to the vehicle roof near the front
windshield of the roof. Member 12 includes a plurality of mounting
apertures for a variety of vehicle accessories. Of significance with
respect to the mounting structure of the present invention however, is a
mounting socket 15 shaped to receive the visor mounting assembly 20 of the
present invention. Assembly 20 is mounted at end 27 of a visor pivot rod
22 for snap-fitting a visor 30 (FIG. 2) to the vehicle roof by the
interconnection of members 20 and 15. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a trim
bezel 35 extends over and lockably mates with member 20 for providing a
trim finish to the structure once assembled as shown in FIG. 2. Covering
the roof 10 of the vehicle, including header 12 is a decorative upholstery
fabric 17 which includes a fabric outer surface 18 and an integral foam
back lining 19 which is of conventional construction and which is
compressibly held under the washer-shaped trim bezel 35. The visor pivot
rod 22 extends and is locked into the core 32 of the visor 30 and is
secured therein in part by a torque fitting 24 which can be of the type
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,131 for allowing the visor 30 to pivot
along the longitudinal (i.e. horizontal) axis of the L-shaped pivot rod
22. Assembly 20 allows the visor to pivot along the vertical axis V shown
in FIG. 1 for movement of the visor from a front windshield position to a
side window position as desired. Having briefly described the overall
system components, a detailed description of the components and their
interrelationship is now presented.
The header socket 15 defines an inverted truncated conical center aperture
45 formed by wall 40 having a vertically extending slot 42 extending
downwardly from the upper rim 41 of the socket and terminating in a ledge
44 which, as best seen in FIG. 2, receives visor mounting assembly 20. The
conical sidewall 40 integrally extends outwardly through the ledge or
flange 44 and then upwardly in an outer conical wall 46 spaced from inner
wall 40. Wall 46 terminates at its upper end in the upper platform 48 of
the header 12. Wall 40 defines the tapered or conical opening 45 into
which the visor rod mounting assembly 20 mateably extends as seen in FIG.
2.
Assembly 20 includes a polymeric molded-on torque fitting 21 having a
generally truncated conical outer sidewall 23 conforming to the taper of
the inner surface of 43 of wall 40 as best seen in FIG. 2. Integrally
formed in fitting on the outer surface of wall 23 is an enlarged elongated
ridge defining a key member 29 which extends vertically and has a width
corresponding to that of slot 42 for locking the torque fitting within
socket 15 as best seen in FIG. 2. Thus the vertically extending key member
29 prevents rotation of the torque fitting 21 within socket 15 while
allowing rotation of rod end 27 with respect to torque fitting 21 in a
controlled manner. Near the lower end of the tapered polymeric fitting 21
there is provided an annular recess 25 for snap-receiving the
washer-shaped bezel 35. The polymeric torque fitting 21 is made of a
suitable polymeric material integrally molded to the upper end 27 of visor
pivot rod 22. Such polymeric material preferably is an acetal and
particularly an acetal homopolymer such as Delrin 500 DK 602 which
provides the desired characteristics for this application. Other polymeric
materials having a shrinkage of from about 0.020 to 0.025 inches per
linear inch to compressibly engage the cylindrical end 27 of hollow pivot
rod 22 also can be used. This material is characterized in that when
cooled, it will not set up against the visor pivot rod thereby providing a
desired breakaway torque of from about one half to six foot pounds,
depending upon the visor in which the invention is employed. Another
suitable material which can be used is Celcon UV-90.
Integrally molded within the torque fitting 21 is a spring-locking clip 50
which includes a generally rectangular anchor leg 52 extending vertically
within the integral torque fitting 21 as best seen in FIG. 2. Clip 50 is
best seen in FIG. 3 and includes an integral horizontally extending
segment 54 which extends partially within torque fitting 21 slightly below
the upper rim of the torque fitting. Integrally formed at the end of
segment 54 remote from leg 52 is a downwardly and outwardly inclined leg
56 which includes a pair of triangular laterally extending flanges 58 on
opposite edges thereof as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. As seen in FIG. 3
the bottom of leg 56 terminates in a vertically extending tab 59 which as
seen in FIG. 2 can be accessed by the gap between the upper surface of
bezel 35 and the lower surface of flange 44 of socket 15 by a suitable
tool such as a screwdriver if necessary to compress the spring leg 56
inwardly toward the pivot rod 22 for removal of the visor assembly if
necessary after installation. The spaced triangular flanges of spring clip
50 each terminate in a locking edge 57 which is inclined at an angle "a"
of approximately 35 degrees to grip the corner 47 (FIG. 2) of flange 44
for locking the visor rod end into socket 15.
The spring clip 50 is made of a suitable spring steel stamping and is held
in place within the enlarged key 29 integrally formed in the torque
fitting 21 with leg 52 held in vertical spaced alignment with respect to
the end 27 of rod 22 during the molding of the fitting 21. The end 27 of
visor rod 22 may include an annular recess (not shown) under the fitting
21 if desired into which the molded-on torque fitting 21 extends for
preventing rod end 27 from longitudinal motion with respect to the torque
fitting. The elbow section of the visor rod 22 includes a decorative
plastic sleeve 31 made of polycarbonate or other suitable material.
Bezel 35 includes an outer washer-shaped flange 36 and upwardly inclined
somewhat thinner inner section 37 as best seen in FIG. 2. The polymeric
bezel includes a generally vertically extending tapered locking rib 38
which extends, as best seen in FIG. 2, under and behind leg 56 of spring
clip 50 to assist in wedging and holding the spring clip leg in its
outward locking position as illustrated in FIG. 2. Bezel ring 35 is fitted
over the end of the visor rod before torque fitting 24 is installed prior
to assembly and rests in the space between decorative cover 31 and torque
fitting 21 until the visor is snap-fitted into position by the insertion
of the torque fitting 21 in the conical socket 15 until the edges 57 of
triangular flanges 58 are locked and wedged against the corner 41 of ledge
44. This snap-fits and locks the keyed torque fitting 21 of the mounting
assembly 20 for visor 30 into the socket 15 of the vehicle roof assembly
for mounting the visor to the vehicle roof 10. Bezel 35 is then pressed
upwardly until ring 37 snap-fits within annular recess 25 with leg 38
positioned behind and in contacting engagement with the inner surface of
leg 56 of spring clip 50.
With this construction, the torque fitting integrally includes a spring
clip and interlocking key means for preventing rotation of the mounting
assembly with respect to the vehicle roof to which it is mounted. The
utilization of a conical socket 15 and similarly tapered torque fitting 21
assures that the visor will not loosen during use by providing a
significant mating surface between the two elements which is tapered for a
snug fit and positively locked and keyed into position. The visor 30 to
which the hollow visor rod 22 is attached is covered with a suitable
upholstery material 34 extending over the core 32 and may include an
illuminated vanity mirror package or other internal electrical accessories
which can be powered by conductors which extend through the hollow pivot
rod 22 as necessary.
It will become apparent to those skilled in the art the various
modifications to the preferred embodiment of the invention as described
herein and can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the
invention as defined by the appended claims.
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